I have a long list of reasons why I don’t care for Donald Trump as a person or a president. But that doesn’t mean he should be treated fairly. Of course neither party has lived up to that standard in a long time. With each new president the tactics get dirtier and dirtier. Right now nothing is off the table. A few even condone violence.

When it was revealed that Michael Flynn had a phone call with the Russian ambassador, Democrats went wild. It was claimed he broke a 200 year old law. Now there are investigations of supposed collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. It doesn’t matter that there is absolutely no evidence. Democrats felt different in 2008. As a candidate, Barack Obama made an extensive tour of Europe and the Middle East and met with many heads of state. Back then he was hailed as a hero.​Too many on the left are so full of hate that they are not thinking straight. If you are going to throw mud at a president, make sure you get some that sticks. Rather than venting their hatred, they should focus on next year’s elections. They have to defend ten seats in states that Donald Trump won. ​

Every president has had disagreements with the press. Even Barack Obama, who had them fawning all over him, complained about his treatment. But Trump and the press seem to be in an all-out war.He does have a legitimate gripe. Once respected news outlets are reporting stories that are deliberately distorted or totally false. Someone in homeland security proposed mobilizing the National Guard to catch illegals. Even though it was rejected some outlets wrote that President Trump is considering it. A totally false story had Trump removing a bust of Martin Luther King from the Oval Office.Every president wants favorable coverage. Most go to great effort to court the media. Trump’s strategy is to throw temper tantrums. His temper was on full display at last week’s hastily called press conference. He got into arguments over trivial matters. It seems like any story he doesn’t like is “fake news”. He even claimed that the leak involving Michael Flynn was true but the story reporting it was fake. As if that wasn’t enough he tweeted that the press was the enemy of the American people.His approach is wrong on a number of levels. First of all, it is counterproductive. Does he really think his antics will improve his coverage? I don’t think he realizes how much his bad behavior hurts his image at home and abroad. He seems to want to show that things are running smoothly but this proves the opposite. His clumsy attempt to control the news is at odds with our democratic traditions.Someone once complained to Theodore Roosevelt about his daughter Alice’s behavior. He responded “I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.” Trump needs to decide if he wants to be an effective president or spend his time responding to every attack. He cannot possibly do both. ​

The forced resignation of Michael Flynn and the events that led up to it have generated a media feeding frenzy. Charges and countercharges have been flying back and forth. After reading more than I care to about this, nobody comes off looking good.

Most serious is the leaking of the contents of a telephone call of a private American citizen by someone in our national security apparatus. This is not just an illegal leak of classified information but an assault on our fundamental rights. These people clearly believe that attacking Trump is more important than our national security. I hope they are caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

It was stupid for Flynn to contact the Russian ambassador. There were already plenty of stories about his close ties to Russia and he had to know that the call would be recorded. Lying about the call is even worse. Clearly he deserved to be fired.

It disturbs me that many in the media have no problem with using illegally obtained information. They would scream bloody murder if their calls and emails are made public. It makes me wonder what’s next. Will they use information obtained through burglaries or physical force?

Once again the Trump administration comes off as the gang that can’t shoot straight. Because of the publicity over his bromance with Putin, he should not have picked Flynn. The last few days of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing shows that the administration is in disarray. I guess that’s what happens when you have a president and senior staff with no government experience.

Last, but not least, are all those on the Left cheering. Of course the Right is just as bad. Whether it’s Russia or someone in the government infringing on personal privacy, it should be condemned by both sides.​We live in an era when each side believes they are always right and the other side is always wrong. As an independent centrist, I have a different view. On this issue (and many others) everyone is wrong. ​

Ever since Donald Trump’s astonishing victory, the stock market has been on a tear. The general assumption is that he will create a paradise for business. After eight years of a president that hated business, the optimism certainly seems justified. However, the actual results may fall short of expectations.

The centerpiece of his economic plan is the corporate tax cut. Conventional Republican wisdom holds that this will cause the economy to take off. There are several problems with this line of reasoning. It’s assumes that the bill will sail through Congress. Remember that Senate Democrats still has the filibuster. This is being sold as a godsend to small business. A business with $1 million in sales will get $20,000 or less, hardly enough to add to staff or expand. Many large businesses have plenty of cash (Google has over $80 billion). Since the government doesn’t have the money, it will have to increase borrowing and pay interest in perpetuity. Since Trump wants to drastically increase spending on defense and infrastructure, the deficit will balloon totally out of control.

Cutting regulations would certainly be beneficial. However, there seems to be no organized approach on how to achieve it. Businesses can cope with red tape easier than uncertainly.

They also need to be concerned about incurring his wrath if they do something he doesn’t like (such as not doing business with his daughter).The biggest concern is what might happen with trade. If he does mess up our relationship with countries like China and Mexico, those jobs aren’t coming home. They will go to third world countries like Brazil and Vietnam. Meanwhile our companies are shut out of valuable markets.​There certainly is reason for optimism but people shouldn’t get carried away. As we have seen, Trump can be a loose cannon.​

We saw a bit of high drama in the debate on confirming Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Senator Elizabeth Warren was reading a letter written by Coretta Scott King thirty years ago that accused Sessions of interfering with minority voting rights. Mitch McConnell invoked a rarely used rule prohibiting member from impugning the integrity of fellow senators. She was ruled out of order and not allowed to speak for the rest of the debate.

Predictably, members of each party declared their party was totally right and the other party totally wrong. This brings up two questions; was McConnell justified in taking this action and was it a wise decision.

Warren could have entered the letter into the record but chose to read it aloud. That clearly means she endorsed the contents of the letter and agrees with the charges against Sessions. To me, she broke the rule and McConnell had the right to silence her.​The wisdom of his decision is another matter. I can understand his frustration. Democrats are behaving badly in slowing the conformation process. Ironically, they would have had the power of the filibuster had Harry Reid not taken it away. However, he made a very poor decision. He made the King letter a front page staory in every paper and made Warren, a possible presidential candidate, a martyr.Yesterday, I commented on the stupid decisions Democrats are making. It looks like they are not alone. These people need some adult supervision. Of course it’s also needed at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. ​

Here are the plain cold facts. In eight short years the Democrats lost the presidency and both houses of Congress. Next year ten Democratic Senate seats are going to be contested in states Donald Trump won. Only one Republican seat is up for grabs in a state Hillary Clinton won.

They should be in much better shape. Demographic changes strongly favor them. Barack Obama left with reasonably good approval ratings. The GOP did them a huge favor by nominating an extremely unattractive presidential candidate.After such a drubbing, you would think they would work together to develop new strategies. Unfortunately for them, too many have been living in a fantasy world. Their recounts and appeals to the electors failed and Trump was inaugurated. Some claimed he wasn’t a legitimate president.

Now there is talk of impeachment. The Constitution specifies that a president may be impeached and convicted for “high crimes and misdemeanors”, whatever that means. Some think disliking his policies are sufficient grounds. Others cite his immigration ban as grounds. If he did exceed his authority, that is a matter for the courts to work out. ​Rather than venting their wrath and tilting at windmills, it is time for all Democrats to face reality and begin to rebuild the party.

Since assuming the presidency, Donald Trump has been called a Fascist, Hitler, KKK, Taliban and much more. Many have taken to the street in peaceful protest. They have not been arrested or hassled in any way by the government. The worst they have suffered is one of President Trump’s silly tweets. This is the way things are supposed to work because they are protected by the First Amendment.

Recently a controversial conservative was scheduled to speak at the University of California – Berkeley. Around 150 masked rioters stormed the campus setting fires and damaging property. They attacked police and bystanders. The event was cancelled of fear for people’s safety.​I am by no means a fan of Donald Trump but he is no fascist. The real fascists are the hoodlums in Berkeley.​